What is EIFSin construction?

EIFS (exterior insulation finish system), explained.

In US commercial construction, EIFS is a continuous-insulation exterior cladding installed as a stacked assembly over a substrate such as sheathing or masonry. From inside out the layers typically run: a water-resistive barrier and adhesive or mechanical attachment, expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation board, a base coat troweled over a glass-fiber reinforcing mesh, and a finish coat of textured acrylic in the specified color and texture. Modern commercial specs almost always call for a drainage (water-managed) EIFS, which adds a drainage plane behind the board. Because it is a proprietary single-source system, you estimate it as one assembly priced per square foot of wall, not as insulation plus stucco plus paint billed separately. The estimator reads the exterior elevations and wall sections to get net wall area, then accounts for the details that the field area alone misses: aesthetic reveals and expansion joints in linear feet, mesh wraps at openings, back-wrapping at terminations, and starter track at the base. Color and texture changes and high-impact mesh at grade level can shift the unit price, so those areas are taken off separately.